


as if you are here

by prairiewolf



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Wordcount: 0-100, and a little feudal japan-era au why not, heavy breathing, just don't look the choir in the eye 'cause they'll know what you got up to, like that's literally the theme, non-linear drabbles, post-reveal cuddling, pre-reveal Ladybug/Chat Noir, pre-reveal banter, we're steaming up the windows but you can make it to church in the morning, with a few steamy moments sprinkled in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prairiewolf/pseuds/prairiewolf
Summary: 虹立ちて　忽ち君の　在る如しthe rainbow stands / in a moment / as if you are here30 short bursts of springtime romance, told across time and out of order





	1. atataka | warm - adrienette

**Author's Note:**

> _Kigo_ (季語) are season words, or words and phrases associated with certain seasons in Japanese poetry.  
> [You can read a list of _kigo_ for every season here](http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html), including the ones I used.
> 
> In April (*cough* and May) of last year, I wrote 30 Miraculous Ladybug vignettes as part of Miraculous April, a writing challenge with my fave babe [Molebear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molebear). If you'd like to try it out yourself, you can read the details of the challenge (and Mole's beautiful shorts) [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/springkigo).

_It’s warm_ , he says.

_Here?_

_Everywhere._

The bridge of his nose pushes into the crook of her neck.

_Being here…it’s so different from home._

_Because the bakery is--_

_No. Marinette, it’s…the_ you _in everything. Whatever you touch. Anywhere you are._

_Is that why you blush around Lady? Because she…because I make you warm?_

His lips quirk against her collarbone. _You make me hot._

She scoffs.

_As Lady._

_Always._

_Hmm._

_Don’t believe me?_ His hand moves along her ribs, a dewy sigh presses into her skin. _What to do? Show you?_

_Yes Kitty._ Her breath hitches. _Show me._


	2. tako | kite - ladrien

Adrien had a kite once. While playing, it caught a strong wind. Back and forth they went until, finally, the string snapped. The untethered kite sailed away. He chased it until it disappeared.

He never asked for another kite. It was a formative lesson on the perils of attachment. He really believed that.

Then one day:

A girl sailed through the air, suspended by a yoyo string, and he chased her, and has ever since, too breathless to stop.

(The snap of the string, though – it haunts him. He runs, always dreading the gust that will carry her away.)


	3. tauchi | tilling a paddy - adrienette

It keeps him awake at night. What could grow there, tucked into the soft swell of her stomach? The flush of her skin? The rise and fall of freckles on her sternum? Humming in the knit of her ribs? Buried in the warm wetness at the center of her body?

What _wouldn't_ grow?


	4. neko no koi | cats in love - marichat

He sang two full songs by Edith Piaf back to back, but when he switched to Serge Gainsbourg – _comme la vague irrésolu je vais je vais et je viens entre tes_ – that was when the boot came flying through the skylight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, that song _alone_ should have earned the mature rating just saying


	5. yokan | still cold - adrienette

“It’s freezing!” Marinette rubs her ears. “It sure doesn’t feel like Spring.”

Alya nods. “So much for global warming.”

“Hah, yeah right--”

“Marinette, wait up!”

They turn. Adrien jogs to a stop, clouds puffing up around his flushed face.

“Man, you two walk fast!” He holds a hat out to Marinette. “You dropped this.”

“Woah,” says Alya, “did you run all the way from school?”

“I had to warm up for fencing anyway.” He smiles. “See you tomorrow?”

He’s already out of earshot when Marinette manages, “Y-yes, t-thank you!”

Alya looks unreasonably smug. “Looks like _someone’s_ warmed up.”


	6. hibari | skylark - adrienette

Seeing you every morning in class, it’s like…like I lose all control of my body? My heart starts to flutter like crazy, like a bird stuck in a cage. But at the same time, it’s like I can’t _breathe_. My tongue goes _totally_ numb and my brain fogs up -- that’s just seeing you! When you look at me, or talk to me, oh god, I feel so much, I just, I can’t…!

But even though it’s awful, somehow…I still look forward to seeing you every day.

It’s so weird. Does being in love make you love being miserable?


	7. keichitsu | bugs come out - ladynoir

It’s nearly nightfall when she swings onto the rooftop.

“I got here as soon as I could, Chat. What’s the situation?”

“No situation,” he says. His legs dangle over the side, kicking idly.

“…then _why the heck_ did I just rush halfway across Paris?”

“I was worried you’d miss the sunset.”

She stamps her foot. “You little—”

“Just come sit,” he pats the ledge. “We’ll leave when the streetlights come on.”

She sits, huffing.

“Nice, huh.” He smiles lazily.

Crickets sing a melody over the distant hum of traffic.

The breeze sighs into her hair.

How quiet it is.


	8. shuntoo | spring lantern - ladynoir

“Chat, you’re not going to leave all these candles burning.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a fire hazard!”

“So?” He hugs her close. “We can survive anything if we’re together, M’lady.”

She dips away from his advances. “This goes nowhere until you blow them out.”

“So it’s going somewhere after?”

“ _Chat_.”

After an unsuccessful pout, he drags himself toward the first row of tea lights. “I guess romance is dead.”

“Let it burn,” she says. “Figuratively.”


	9. hanabie | blossom cool - marichat(ish)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story developing from Chapter 5 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

“Evenin’, Marinette.” Chat vaults onto her balcony.

She jumps. “Ki—Chat Noir! What are—where’s Ladybug?”

“I’m patrolling solo.” He says airily. “Slow night though.”

“That's a good thing, right?”

He shrugs. “It’s chilly. Where’s your hat?”

“Hat?”

“Uhhhhhhaha your hat, which you have, probably, because it’s cold?”

“Something magical happened with my hat today.” She sighs wistfully. “I’m saving its magic for a special occasion.”

“Magical?”

“Because Adri—” She turns bright red. “—atic. SEA! Turns out they…have…hats. Who knew?”

She turns away too quickly to see the blush blossom beneath his mask.

“Well, I’m gonna—”

“Yep, goodnight!”


	10. otamajakushi | tadpoles - adrienette

It’s a wriggling – _when the scent of her hair blows past, with flick of her wrist as she sketches, in the sometimes quality of her blue eyes_ – of a tiny thing bursting to life, blinking its eyes, stretching its tail before – _the wind changes direction, someone calls her name, a cloud moves across the sun_ – it scutters into the murk.

And waits.

And waits.


	11. hanagumori | blossom haze - au

He puts a tentative hand on her cheek. _Why do you tremble, my lady? Because of the clouds?_

 _Because I…_ She exhales shakily, _I don’t want you to go. I couldn’t say it before but... The war will still be there. You, leaving…it doesn’t have to be tomorrow._

 _Stay_ , she says. _Stay until the blossoms fall._

_And if they fall tomorrow?_

_Then…._ She kisses his knuckle, as gently as a petal that nestles between the bones. _Stay tonight._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a big fan of [Ceejurs](http://ceejles.tumblr.com/post/182474541238/noragami-au-the-lady-and-her-regalia) so when I saw their Norigami AU fanart on Tumblr, I was inspired to play around with some Ladybug/Chat Noir AUs that take place in feudal Japan.
> 
> Drabbles 11, 14, 17, 19, and 28 take place in this world. Maybe I'll write the full story! One day.............


	12. yuku haru | passing spring

In a fight, moments are there and gone as brightly and suddenly as a camera flash. But these are rare. Sometimes they languish, almost standstill.

Somewhere in between is their first kiss – the real one, not the many times before that didn’t count. Time balloons slowly as she leans in, then bursts when their lips meet, breath pressed from body, concentrating so many feelings into a spot so dense it stops time, traps the moment there like a photograph.

Do you want to know how it felt? Go to the warm place at the window and be still. Now close your eyes.


	13. shabondama | soap bubbles - ladynoir

“Baths or showers?”

“What?”

“Which one do you take?”

Ladybug leans back, flicking her yoyo in and out of her hand. “Hmm. I’m always running late so…showers, I guess.”

“That’s funny,” He says.

“Why?”

“I always imagined you’d take bubble baths.”

She flushes. “Can you _not_?”

“What?” asks Chat innocently.

“Imagine me in a bath!”

“It’s fine! You’re always clothed since I don’t really…know what you look like.”

Ladybug sets the yoyo down, blows her bangs off her forehead. Does the not knowing seem…harder lately?

“Chat?”

“Yes, Bugaboo?”

“Am I really always clothed?”

He grins.

“UGH, YOU PERVERT!”


	14. shundei | spring mud - au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connected to drabbles 11, 14, 17, 19, and 28

The posters are ruined as soon as they hit the puddle, but Mari bends down anyway, haori sleeves dragging on the wet ground, everything grimy with mud and ink.

They had taken hours to draw, and she’s so focused on not crying that she gasps when someone else’s hands join hers in collecting the pages.

“What a shame.” The voice has the sweet timbre of a flute. “They’re quite beautiful.”

“T-they’re nothing.” She mutters, breathless by contrast. “The posters are—”

“No, my lady. Your fingers.”

Mari dares herself to look up. The man has wild green eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A _haori_ is a kimono jacket.


	15. higan | equinox - adrienette (reveal)

“He took her.” Her voice, like everything around them, is falling apart. “He took Tikki.”

“Plagg, too.” He’s hidden against an upended desk, immediately behind her. “We have to get them back.”

“How?”

“Like always, m’lady.”

Something sparks in her, small but bright.

“Together.” She feels herself believing it. “We can do it together.”

“I’ve wanted to know who you are for so long,” he says. “Guess now’s as good a time as any?”

His ungloved hand slides over, and shivering, she takes it.

“On three?”

“On three.”

She exhales.

“One, two—”


	16. shiohigari | beach combing at low tide - ladynoir

He peels down her suit, breathing in the goosebumps that rise to his kiss. They’re fresh from a fight; her stomach is flushed, dewy with sweat. He presses his eyes closed, just there, lets the warmth of it sun his face, lets her sigh rustle his hair, dips his tongue down into the shallow waves between her legs, curling and cresting around him.

She says his name, and the whole of her rakes through him.


	17. nanohana | mustard flowers - au

_This is a perfect hiding spot_ , she says. _No one will find you here._

She bends a yellow blossom down to his yellow hair, fanned out beneath him, and tickles his forehead with their fragrant clusters. 

He catches her wrist to run his tongue from the bracelet line to the bottom of her palm, inhales, looks up at her with those rabe-green eyes.

_It tastes sweet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical fantasy AU, connected to chapters 11, 14, 19, and 28.
> 
> Rabe (like the tasty vegetable broccoli rabe) is another name for wild mustard flowers.


	18. kigan | departing geese - marichat

“Let’s get you home,” says Chat.

“It’s fine, I walk from this park all the time.”

He’s about to protest, but his ring chimes.

“OK, Princess. Stay out of trouble.”

“W-wait!”

She pulls a ribbon-wrapped box from her purse.

“I made this. To thank you.”

“You keep it in your purse?”

“Welllll…it was only a matter of time.”

The sprinklers kick up suddenly, like a flock of birds taking flight, and they run scream-laughing to the sidewalk. They’re wet and breathless and standing so close – maybe that’s why.

“Whatever this is,” he hugs her, “I’ll treasure it.”


	19. buranko | swing - au

A second arrow strikes, and in one breathtaking moment, he slips from the back of his horse into a dream.

The field is empty except for her, on a swing; her red kimono is only outshone by the radiant blackness of her hair.

He walks up behind her.

“If you’re here to say goodbye,” she says, “don’t bother.”

He sighs. “I’m ready to die.”

“You can’t, because I’m coming.” She smiles grimly over her shoulder. “Stay alive.”

“Mari, please—”

He staggers, sharp pain racing through his shoulder and side.

_Who are you that dares to mean so much to me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical fantasy AU, connected to chapters 11, 14, 17, and 28.


	20. shunshuu | spring melancholy - an interlude feat. Gabriel Agreste

“Do you have…” Gabriel chewed on the word like it had a bad taste, “macarons?”

The baker handed him a box. “They’re on the house.”

“I’d rather—”

“No, I insist. Adrien is my daughter’s classmate.” She smiled warmly. “Marinette’s very fond of him.”

“Ah yes, Marinette. She’s…quite dedicated.” To his credit, Gabriel did _try_ to smile. “If Adrien had half her ambition, instead of spending hours lying around, _sighing_ —" 

The baker giggled, giving him pause. 

“Is something…funny?”

“Marinette’s the same way,” she said. “But it’s Spring, after all.”

“Spring?”

She nodded dreamily. “The weather’s just right for sighing.”


	21. yukishiro | melt off - ladrien

“Don’t worry.” Ladybug draws the curtain. “Chat’s coming, he’ll get us out.”

“Ladybug…” Adrien fidgets, “There’s something—”

But he freezes when she folds herself around him.

“I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Just as suddenly as she hugged him, she squeaks and tries to leap back. But Adrien pulls her back in. He can hardly breathe.

“Let’s stay like this.”

He feels her nod against his chest.

His heartbeats are so loud he’s afraid she’ll hear, so he says, “I can’t believe you’re shorter than me. You look so tall.”

“I’ll grow.”

“Don’t.” He brushes her ear. “You’re perfect.”


	22. oborozuki | hazy moon - reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [continuing from chapter 15]

“…three.”

For a long time, they only stare at each other. 

Finally, Adrien says, “Of course it’s you. How did I not see it?”

“Am I…dreaming?” She asks.

He exhales, shaking his head. “I wish I had time to tell you…all the times that I…but…”

“Me too.” She says. “Oh Adrien, Tikki and Plagg need us. We have to rescue them.”

“Yes, but—”

And then they’re kissing, pressed so close, and time is weirdly fast and slow, and everything, everything is…

He rests his forehead on hers. “I always wanted to do that.”

She hiccups, teary-eyed. “Me too.”


	23. tanemaki | planting seeds - adrienette

Burying themselves under her old blanket, they kick it up, up, up, only to feel it exhale over them, ever so slowly, and giggling this time just like the last, they wrap themselves in each other’s arms, fold themselves into each other’s hair, looking and looking, their eyes blown wide, and why my love must there be danger and destiny, why can’t every day be Sunday, devoted just to this?


	24. sangyouki | memorial day - adrienette

He’s clutching her hand when the movie ends.

“Sorry.” Blushing, he lets go. “That doesn’t usually happen.”

Marinette is scarlet. She makes an unintelligible squeak, then tries to suck it back in, mortified. 

Adrien smiles. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m just glad you’re here. I wanted to watch this today but I…didn’t really want to do it alone.”

“I’ll always be here when you need me.” She manages. “And if you want to hold my hand, I don’t mind b-b-becausefriendsholdhandswearerefriendsahahaha?”

“I know. Because it’s you, Marinette.”


	25. tori kumo ni iru | birds entering clouds - ladynoir

What was it like before we could fly? Do you remember?

No, me neither.

The top of the jump is so quiet, like a long sigh.

How small we are in that moment. Concentrated celestial bodies, floating above the world.

How can you be so small and still be everything to me?


	26. momo no hana | peach blossoms - adrienette

You should go, she says.

I’ll stay here, he replies.

You’ll get sick, she says.

He shrugs, I’ll probably get better.

He slides in next to her, pulls her close, tucks the blankets around them.

She rises and falls on his chest, flushed and pink and dozing.

You should go, she murmurs again.

It’s okay. He kisses her hair. Just sleep.


	27. wasurejimo | last frost - ladynoir

_Tell me your name._

He is stretched alongside her, his gloved finger tracing the black spot beneath her ribs.

_You know the rules, mon minou._

_Please,_ he begs. _Just the first letter._

 _L,_ she says.

He burrows behind her ear, his breath hot on her neck.

 _I hate that you keep secrets,_ he mumbles.

 _Pretend,_ she tugs her fingers through his hair, _that this is my real identity, and the other me is a mask._

He seems to mull on this.

_Better?_

_…no._

Still sulking, he rises over her, presses into her.


	28. chijitsu | lingering day - au

The east wind blows, shivering the blossoms, but no blossoms fall.

Should I catch fish for dinner, he asks.

Can you fish?

He flashes a catlike grin. Of course.

She comes back from the village to find empty nets - he’s a terrible fisherman. Laughing, they gather quail eggs and perilla instead.

The breeze blows the clouds off, cooling the late afternoon. They watch the day stretch on, turn pink under their gaze, dip shyly under a curtain of blue night. The amiable moon leans over the horizon.

Come inside, he says.

Shhh, she says. Stay a moment longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feudal Japan AU, connected to chapters 11, 14, 17, and 19


	29. kaiko | silkworms - adrienette (or is it marichat??)

Tikki tilts the spool to observe its luster. “Silk thread. This is very precious.”

“Is it expensive?”

“Silkworm cocoons are boiled before they hatch. It takes hundreds to make a single spool.”

She sweats at Marinette’s stricken expression.

“B-but you’ll honor their sacrifice by making something full of love!” Tikki sighs. “So what _are_ you making?”

“A bracelet.” Marinette ties the black thread with a jade bead. “For Adrien.”

“Adrien? Don’t you mean Chat Noir?”

“Chat? No way!” But Marinette flushes. Black and green – _what was she thinking?_

Tikki smiles slyly. “I’m sure they’ll both love it.”


	30. haru fukashi | deep spring - ladynoir

“Can I?”

“We’re on a stakeout—”

“Bugabooooo…”

Lady groans but leans back on her hands, and delighted, Chat rests his head in her lap.

“Comfortable?”

“Very.”

“Are you _purring?_ ”

“Maaaaybe.”

“Who’s a good kitty?”

He opens one eye. “I am.”

She laughs, despite herself. “You are.”

They stay like this, maybe hours, and when he breathes out _I love you_ , she pretends not to hear but gives off a fluttery breath that’s nice anyway, and if she’ll let him sleep in her lap on warm afternoons, well, it’s almost like saying _I love you too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT'S THIRTY WE DID IT YAAAAY thanks for reading!


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